Showing results by narrator "Mort Shelby" in All Categories

Smoke Jensen has come to Corpus Christi, Texas, to take delivery of 500 horses he purchased from and old friend. That's when a Mexican revolutionary, Colonel Butamante Keno, brazenly crashes the border, slaughters 22 innocent US citizens in cold blood, and steals a thousand head of cattle - along with 200 of Smoke's horses.

Hewey Calloway is between a rock and a hard place: The open range and simple life of his childhood are disappearing. He can't live a cowboy life whose time has passed and he's not ready yet for the new challenges of the 20th century, like automobiles, telephones, and barbed wire fences. He and his friends, all of them good old boys, must learn that even the best choices involve some kind of sacrifice.

The adventure begins for Falcon MacCallister in the town of Tombstone, where his new-found friend Doc Holliday gets an invitation to a dance of death at the O.K. Corral. From there, Falcon will travel from the Arizona border to the shadows of the Dragoon Mountains, pursuing a murderous band of Apaches led by the Mescalero chief Naiche. His warriors are bent on the slaughter of every man, woman and child they encounter on their way to a war council with Chief Gokaleh, better known as the infamous Geronimo.

For years, like millions of other Americans, John Thomas Rourke had planned for what seemed inevitable — the destruction of civilization. There were various possible causes: global economic collapse, some uncontrollable pestilence, a world famine — or nuclear war.

When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos. Shai is given an impossible task: to create - to Forge - a new soul for the emperor in less than 100 days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors.

This latest installment in Johnstone's series about frontiersman Jamie MacCallister finds the former gunfighter, now 50, leading a serene life of retirement in Colorado even as his sons are fighting on both sides of the Civil War. Summoned to Washington, Jamie is offered the position of chief scout for the Union by Lincoln himself. But though the rugged Westerner loathes slavery, he loves states' rights more and, after a meeting with Robert E. Lee, he signs up with the Confederacy as commander of a guerrilla band.

In Pecos Valley, New Mexico, a cattle war has erupted, pitting rancher against rancher across a once-peaceful land. It has thrust McCallister into the dead-center of one of the most violent battles on record - and barrel to barrel with the greatest challenge he has ever faced. His name is William Bonney. His victims called him Billy the kid. McCallister calls him a bad risk. But in the deadly gamble of the Lincoln County War, placing your bet on an outlaw like the Kid is the only game in town.

Centuries ago, when Earth's Darkfolk - vampires, werewolves, witches, and other creatures - were threatened by humanity, they departed our planet's dimension and journeyed to a shadowy realm, where they built the great city of Nekropolis. Matt Richter is an Earth cop who came through a portal to Nekropolis on a case, died, and was resurrected as a zombie. Unable to return home, he works as a private investigator on the very mean streets of this shadowy, dark city.

Kate Coldane has sweated blood for this saloon, and she won’t let it go down without a fight. Silas Atwood may be the richest rancher in Hudspeth County, but that doesn’t give him the right to push her around. When Atwood sends one of his goons to cause trouble at her watering hole, Kate’s son Rusty guns him down. It may have been self defense, but Atwood is the law, and that means Rusty has to run.

It’s the dawn of a new century. But on the vast Sugarloaf Ranch not much has changed since legendary gunfighter Smoke Jensen and his wife Sally tamed the land two decades ago. Raising cattle is still a dangerous business — and just as deadly as ever. When Smoke is injured swapping bullets with some cow thieves, Sally puts out a call for help to Matt, Ace, and the rest of the Jensen clan. But time is running out. The bloodthirsty rustlers are ready to strike again — and there are lots more of them. And the Sugarloaf’s last defense is Smoke and Sally’s next of kin....

Emerging from a gateway in the Midwest, Ryan senses trouble within the well-fortified ville of a local baron, whose understanding of pre-Dark medicine may be their one chance to save a wounded Jak. But while his white coats can make the drugs that heal, the baron knows the real power and money is in the hardcore Deathlands jolt. And where drugs and riches go, death shadows every step, no matter which side of a firefight you stand on....

After an eon of dormancy, the hideous winged demon Dactyl awakens and calls forth an army of darkness to bring horror and devastation to the land of Corona. The only survivors of the ravaged village of Dundalis, young friends Elbryan Wyndon and Jilseponie Ault, are separated in the carnage and, unknown to each other, struggle through lives that will lead to a shared destiny. Avelyn Desbris, a pious young monk, also finds himself on a course that will intersect with the fates of Elbryan and Jilseponie and lead to a fateful confrontation with the monstrous dactyl.

When Conrad Browning's wife disappears in the untamed frontier, Conrad finds himself assuming the identity of his famous gunslinging father, Frank Morgan, to find her. But his hopes of rescuing Rebel are swiftly shattered - and now he's burning for vengeance, the old-fashioned way. So he fakes his own death and starts calling himself The Loner, becoming the deadliest gunfighter this side of his own father - ready to settle the score in blood and bullets....

Jamie MacCallister remembers the Alamo—especially one brave frontiersman who died fighting there. Now the fallen veteran’s granddaughter needs Jamie’s help. She’s found a letter written by her grandfather with a map to the spot where Alamo legend Jim Bowie supposedly hid a fortune in silver and gold. Jamie never believed the story. Countless treasure hunters had scoured the area and come up empty handed. But his friend’s granddaughter is convinced it’s hidden where no one has ever dared to search—deep in the heart of Comanche country.

Elbryan and Pony—soul mates from childhood who grew even closer over time—fervently hope that the tide of darkness is at last receding from the land of Corona. Yet if evil is on the retreat, why are hordes of goblins and bloody-capped powries slashing their way ever-deeper into civilized lands? A sinister threat now looms over Corona, for the power of the demon dactyl was not entirely vanquished by the sacrifice of the monk Avelyn Desbris. Instead, its darkness has infiltrated the most sacred of places.

Sometimes, it’s bad to be good. That’s what happens when Scratch Morton and Bo Creel are rewarded with a gold mine for saving a rich man’s bacon. The catch: This mine is a magnet for marauding Mexican banditos. Budding capitalists, Scratch and Bo fight back. That’s when they discover that the thieves aren’t who they thought they were, some really bad guys are on the way, and a beautiful woman might just be the most dangerous bandit of all — the kind that can steal your heart.

King Malcom of the kingdom of Redhart is dead. The kingdom has been overrun by the forces of the Unreal. Statues live, corpses walk, and nothing is as it seems. One of Malcom's three sons may assume the throne, but two will have to die. Jordan, the great actor, is hired to impersonate Prince Viktor, who is ill, but can't be seen in public as weak. Jordan's skills are great, but there is much he doesn't know about the prince and his ignorance could kill him if he doesn't acquire allies and learn the truth about life at Castle Midnight.

Smoke Jensen never wanted to kill, but fate had other plans, and the Mountain Man has left plenty of blood, tears and fury in his wake. Angus MacDougal, the father of one of Smoke’s victims, wants revenge. Riding up to Big Rock, Colorado, MacDougal has decided that killing Smoke won’t be enough. He intends to bring him back to Pueblo and hang him before a crowd. It’s a bloodthirsty plan that might have worked, except for a beautiful young woman, and the small knife she slips into Smoke’s hand.

The Oklahoma Panhandle is 100 miles of lawlessness and danger: a no-man's-land designed to separate Texas from pro-Union Kansas. Through this desolate strip rides legendary gunslinger Falcon MacCallister with a 12-year-old Indian boy by his side. Behind them lies a scene of horror left by outlaws who've massacred the boy's parents, as well as the settlers in a small wagon train.

The last days of the Civil War. With Richmond under siege, Confederate soldier Luke Jensen is assigned the task of smuggling gold out of the city before the Yankees get their hands on it — when he is ambushed and robbed by four deserters, shot in the back, and left for dead. Taken in by a Georgia farmer and his beautiful daughter, Luke is nursed back to health. Though crippled, he hopes to reunite with his long-lost brother Smoke, but a growing romance keeps him on the farm.